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Project Gutenberg's Practical School Discipline, by Ray Coppock Beery This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Practical School Discipline Introductory Course Author: Ray Coppock Beery Release Date: November 17, 2019 [EBook #60717] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL SCHOOL DISCIPLINE *** Produced by MFR, Nigel Blower and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) PRACTICAL SCHOOL DISCIPLINE INTRODUCTORY COURSE BY RAY C. BEERY A. B. (Columbia), M. A. (Harvard) PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF DISCIPLINE PLEASANT HILL, OHIO, U. S. A. Copyrighted, 1916, by RAY C. BEERY Copyrighted, Great Britain, 1916 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENTS PAGE Preface v-vii Introductory Course 9-25 Part I, The Teacher 27-88 Part II, The School 89-101 Part III, Discipline: Its Province and End 103-111 Part IV, Fundamental Principles in Discipline 113-171 Index 172, 173 iii PREFACE From the first sting of a blackboard pointer received at the hand of a primary teacher for a slight overflow of energy, to the last serious fracture of discipline which I recall in High School, I pondered over the methods used by my teachers and talked with others, frequently, about this matter of discipline. Very often after observing an extremely annoying day for a teacher, who seemed to think that all trouble was due to the pupils, I would feel like rising in my seat, half through sympathy and half through disgust, and shouting, “Teacher, it’s all wrong. We pupils are human. There are ways of appealing to us and getting the results you want, if only you apply the right methods.” The solving of various problems of discipline for the purpose of helping teachers to accomplish their tremendous task, has always appealed to me very much, but it was not until my Senior year in High School that I seriously considered making the study of discipline my life-work. It was the result of observing closely every day for four years, the different methods used by two High School instructors and, most important of all, the consistent results of those methods which convinced me that the subject of discipline could be analyzed. The course, which you are starting to read, is the result of long observation, careful study and constant thought in this important field. The subject has resolved itself into a very few fundamental principles, the proper application of which will invariably get results in the right direction. There are no cut and dried rules with which all school-room problems can be met; yet, the wise experience of hundreds of teachers has taught that there are certain principles which can be safely followed and the application of which will unfailingly increase the teacher’s success in dealing with troublesome problems. Not only are the fundamental principles fully explained and made simple, but there are definite concrete school-room problems given, together with the safest treatment to apply. The problems are real. They have presented themselves many times and will continue to present themselves as long as schools exist. Correct methods are given to meet the most perplexing situations as well as the petty though annoying troubles that troop through each school day. Each method presented has been tested and tried and found to get good results. The application of the methods presented in this course will also have a lasting effect on the lives of those disciplined. This is an aim which, indeed, must underlie all true discipline. The language and phraseology used is that which can be understood by the most humble teacher. In speaking of the teacher always in the masculine, I have followed the custom of the specialists. “He” will mean usually “he or she.” In preparing this course, I have constantly kept in mind the thousands of teachers in every quarter of the land—North, South, East and West—who are laboring in one-room schools where they are moulding the characters of boys and girls who will be the men and women of tomorrow; men, who will guide the destiny of the state and women to be fit mothers of a greater race. The teachers whose labors are in the rural hamlets and the larger villages have been remembered; also those whose tasks are more manifold in the busy city where school-room problems are varied and complex. This course is prepared to meet an almost universal demand. Teachers, like all other practical human beings, are eager for concrete information and ideas which they can apply. Any information at all which makes for better discipline is, by the worthy teacher, considered quite worth while. R. C. B. “In schools and colleges, in fleet and army, discipline means success, and anarchy means ruin.” (Froude.) v vi vii “One in charge of children can not know TOO much about them.” viii Introductory Course Teaching school means infinitely more than the mere giving of lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic. It means the moulding of human lives and characters. The amount of good which a single enlightened teacher may do for humanity can hardly be over-estimated. Children of all grades look upon their teachers in a certain sense as heroes whom they admire and emulate. Great, therefore, is the teacher’s responsibility. Conduct and Discipline Not only is the teacher a great moral force in the school and community but certain of his traits and habits are so very closely related to discipline that the first part of the book is devoted exclusively to “The Teacher.” The teacher should have a very definite code of morals—a code of morals that is in no sense vague or indefinite or weak. He should not be undecided even about small details relating to the moral code. Children admire strong characters. They are quick to detect weakness. This Course presents a code of morals for the teacher which is very concrete. The teacher will consider it most sensible because every idea is grounded on sound and logical reasons. This part of the Course, in presenting reasons along with the detailed and definite code of morals should help every teacher who reads it. Even though you are now leading a strong, influential life, reading this part of the Course will strengthen your convictions and in that way help you to be yet stronger. School Surroundings and Discipline It can not be denied that every factor in the child’s surroundings has some influence upon him. It would be difficult to introduce principles of order and system into a child’s school work, if that child were surrounded by disorder in the school-room equipment. We all know that the appetizing effect of a luncheon is heightened by cleanliness, the taste with which the luncheon and the dishes are arranged, even the mode of serving the food and the general appearance of the room. Comparatively few teachers realize the relation of the school surroundings to discipline. The second part of the book is devoted to “The School.” This part of the Course discusses various factors in the surroundings which the teacher may control, and suggests many things about the room equipment which will greatly aid him in securing good work and order. Every teacher, in dealing with pupils, should have well fixed in his mind the true province and end in discipline. The third division of this book is devoted to “The Province and End in Discipline,” which is an extremely important discussion. No idea is less understood than is discipline. In its restricted meaning and application, it means far too little. Discipline permeates most thoroughly every activity of humankind. Every avenue of progress owes its measure of success to the measure of discipline found therein. Could discipline come into its own province and manifest its fullest force, there evidently would be no need of penal institutions, courts of justice and other reformatory measures. Far too many teachers believe their work in the school-room well done and designate themselves as good disciplinarians if they have managed to get through the school year without any more serious difficulty than having to administer a whipping or two, or perhaps, suspend a pupil for a week or ten days. To call this discipline is indeed deplorable. The True End in Discipline Some teachers on being asked, “What is the end to be sought in discipline?” have answered, “Good order.” Others have answered, “Quietness such that lessons may be studied.” But these are mere conditions of successful school work and are not at all ends to be attained in discipline. The teacher who thinks of these conditions as being the ends in discipline is not only liable to use improper means, but will be satisfied with a mere semblance of success. The true end of discipline is none other than the acquirement of self-control. This includes six very definite things which are explained in Part Three. It is the failure to understand the nature of children, which causes so much friction and trouble with them. By “nature,” we do not mean merely the child’s disposition, as this view is far too narrow. Let us clearly explain, in the next few paragraphs, the distinction between individual disposition and fundamental nature. An Important Distinction It is true, popular lecturers often bore us by speeches in which they emphasize over and over the necessity of knowing the disposition of our individual child. Of course, it is helpful to know the individual disposition; but the mistaken emphasis placed upon this detail as compared with really knowing the general and fundamental nature of children is indeed astounding. A case was reported to us not long ago of a child-lecturer who chanced to be confronted with a practical situation. Little “George,” his son, was near a newspaper in the drawing-room. The gentleman asked George to bring the newspaper to him. George refused. The command was repeated. “George, bring me the newspaper.” George refused. He again gave more commands, in a louder tone of voice while George laughed at him. The lecturer then started over to him and George ran behind a table. The man soon managed to seize the boy’s hand and escorted him over to the newspaper, whereupon he again commanded him to pick up the paper. George refused. The gentleman took the boy’s hands and tried to force them to grasp the newspaper but George’s fingers were lax. At this moment, George received a keen slap on the side of the face. He was then told to pick up the paper and he did so. Why? Merely through fear? (The fallacy of this method will be discussed later on.) 9 10 11 12 13 The point of the above illustration is this: That man would treat all of ten thousand other children in precisely the same way as he did George if they refused to obey him. And yet this same lecturer is continually going before mothers’ clubs and admonishing them thus: “Mothers, mothers—know your individual child.” If his doctrine is so important, why does he not practice what he preaches? A man or woman, parent or teacher, who can not get a child to obey, without slapping him or threatening him, has something fundamental to learn about child training. This man not only failed to be influenced by the boy’s individual disposition but he showed by his method that he did not understand the fundamental nature of children. To explain further the distinction between individual disposition and fundamental nature, you have in your room five pupils: Ralph, Charley, Miriam, Fay and Helen. Let us assume that these pupils are as different in disposition as it is possible for them to be. Ralph is pessimistic, secretive and has a bad temper. Charley is optimistic, frank and very amiable. Miriam and Fay have certain other opposite characteristics and Helen is in a class by herself—overbearing, spiteful, high tempered and hard to approach. Now what shall we do? Must we use a fundamentally different method on each of these pupils in order to reach the same result? By no means. While these five pupils have characteristics which are distinctly their own and different from each other, yet they have precisely the same instincts underlying their actions. They have the same individual instincts, the same adaptive instincts, the same social instincts, the same regulative instincts and the same parental instincts. If we appeal to the same instinct in one child that we appeal to in another we will get a similar result. The expression will not be exactly the same, of course. One child may react more quickly than another or with more enthusiasm but nevertheless the response will be similar. For example, if I do something which Ralph sees is going to push forward his own interests: if I praise Ralph for something which he has done, he will react in the same direction as will Charley, Miriam, Fay and Helen when I appeal to the same instinct in them, such as their instinctive desire for approval. Instead of only five pupils, we might take a hundred or a thousand pupils, each one having a disposition slightly different from all the others. Their natures are all based upon certain fundamental instincts common to the race. Therefore, it is this fundamental nature of the pupil which we must know. The disposition of the particular pupils is a matter of detail as compared with the deep-seated and essential nature and will not trouble us much after we have learned the fundamental principles of child supervision, because all children have the same natural instincts and, in applying principles, we appeal to these instincts. Part Four of this book is devoted exclusively to the naming and explaining of these great fundamental principles. A teacher who thoroughly understands each of these principles is in possession of information that is really invaluable in discipline. It would be well for each teacher to read over these important principles several times during the school year. The reading can not fail to aid in getting better discipline. The best possible way to acquire skill in discipline is to study a great variety of typical examples. In fact, the author has planned other volumes devoted exclusively to concrete cases of discipline. By a concrete case is meant an interruption or annoyance caused by one or more pupils at a given time, which must be dealt with by the teacher in one way or another. Very often a teacher, after observing the results of a certain method, will look back and say, “If I had that to do over again, I would treat the case differently.” Perhaps he has asked a child a question which, on account of the embarrassing circumstances, caused him to tell a falsehood; perhaps he has tried to force obedience instead of attaining the end in a better way. These and dozens of other cases might be suggested which often confront a teacher and unless he has correct ideas about disposing of them when they arise, he will have no small amount of trouble before the year is over. That teacher is almost sure to fail who waits for the occasion to select a method instead of preparing beforehand for different emergencies. Treatment of Cases According to Age The proper decision in cases of discipline is so extremely important that the cases which may arise in each grade should be treated separately. For example, all the problems which may present themselves to the first grade teacher may be recorded under the head “First Grade” and the remedy given for each case. The same is true of the second grade and so on through the High School. Special and very definite instructions should be framed for the proper discipline of pupils of various ages in the same room of the country school. The methods must be safe methods. Some times an unenlightened teacher will use a method which not only fails to get good results but which actually aggravates the trouble. The very nature of the methods given in this Course is such that a teacher may be sure the best possible plan is being employed, viewed from the standpoint of positive good results that will surely follow. The teacher will find it a great source of pleasure to have the subject of discipline so well in mind and so thoroughly analyzed and thought out that when a case arises, he can not only apply a method which he thinks is right but one which he knows is right. Oftentimes, a teacher is confronted with such a difficult situation that no matter what method is applied, good results will not be seen immediately. In such cases it is extremely assuring for a teacher to know that the particular method which he has applied is the best possible method that could be used in that situation. In the treatment of all cases, not only are the correct methods outlined in detail, but fundamental reasons should be given showing why the method suggested is the best in each case. In the treatment of all cases, applications are to be made of 14 15 16 17 the fundamental principles. There are not a few teachers, as well as parents, who continue to use physical force in attempting to govern. It is indeed appalling how blind some people are on matters of discipline. They will get poor results repeatedly from applying a given method and yet they fail to see that their child’s bad behavior is due to their own faulty method. Why do not parents think about changing their own method which causes the child to misbehave instead of forever blaming the child? This is a question that is not easy to answer. Business men, after finding that a certain form of advertising does not pay, discontinue that form of advertising and yet they are not half so reasonable in their own homes. For instance, it is a common occurrence for a parent to flog a child for telling a falsehood. The child continues to tell falsehoods one day after another and the parent continues to use the punishing method. Seldom, if ever, does the parent think of changing his method. Often, when interviewing parents about a child, they will offer some reason for punishing which to them seems perfectly sound but they ignore the fact that fear of punishment is one of the chief causes of falsifying and that to punish for a known falsehood today makes the child more secretive tomorrow. Many persons likewise, base obedience upon fear of punishment. Their children know that when they hear a command, they must obey at once or receive a whipping. Here is a logical proposition: If obedience is based upon fear instead of confidence; that is, if the child obeys only through fear, then when fear is gradually removed (at fourteen or fifteen when the child begins to feel the assurance of manhood) obedience naturally becomes weaker. Many parents wonder what is wrong when they lose control of their adolescent boys and girls; yet the reason is perfectly obvious. If obedience is based upon confidence, as it should be, the changes which accompany adolescence will not remove the only basis of obedience, as in the case of fear, but will make the parents’ grasp even more secure. Many parents are thoughtful enough to have at least their own reason for using a certain method, while others, unfortunately, hardly think at all. They have one method which they attempt to use as a cure for all bad traits as well as for particular misdemeanors. A situation presents itself and because of some pre-conceived notion, the same old remedy is suggested and administered. What is true of a great many parents in this regard is also true of a great many teachers. If parents and teachers were to try some practical tests in discipline, keep a record on paper of the treatment of certain offenses followed immediately by the obvious results of those methods, and then draw reasonable conclusions at the end of a week or a month, they would have something valuable to work upon. Most educators advise the use of corporal punishment as a last resort, yet far too many teachers in carrying out this advice really use it not only as a last resort but as a first, last and only resort. Here is the situation—in fact, a very common situation for a teacher who does not have the confidence of his pupils. A boy is told to do or not to do a certain thing. He openly disobeys. The teacher feels that he must make an example of him and humiliate him at once before the school. “Let us conclude, then, that the day of corporal punishment as an important agency in school discipline has passed never to return. And let us also conclude that its passing is not yet complete and can not be complete until social customs and prejudices have been thoroughly adjusted to the new order and until effective methods of dealing with acute disciplinary difficulties have been discovered, standardized and made effective by general recognition.”[1] In this brief Introductory Course, one can not go much into detail on any one point. In regard to punishment, however, this hint is in place. If anyone is interested enough to really find out for himself and settle in his own mind once for all, questions concerning correct discipline, let him personally interview a large number of boys. Let him get some of their views. Let him talk over the matter frankly with some other teacher’s pupils. He will thereby not only enlighten himself as to the best policy about punishing boys but the experience of talking in a confidential way with big-hearted boys (and they will all seem big- hearted if only he assumes that they are) will give him a new inspiration and a more optimistic view about his future discipline in the school-room. He will feel more capable of appealing to the child’s mind and heart and will see less necessity than ever before for having to force even the most stubborn child to do his bidding. The author’s own view on punishment is this: the more a teacher knows about child nature and correct fundamental principles, the less he will need to use corporal punishment. The aim of this Course is to present the teacher with such concrete information, based upon a correct knowledge of child nature, that its application by the teacher will enable him to succeed in discipline without any corporal punishment whatsoever. Of course, there will always be exceptions. A certain pupil may be apparently abnormal and extremely hard to govern. But even with the proverbial exception, really surprising things can be accomplished by the application of wise methods. The aim, stated above, is not unreasonable. The author has clear evidence of this. In his own town, the superintendent of schools went so far as to allow even the pupils to know that he would not punish them with physical pain. He explained why he would not and the result was wonderful, as he expected. Instead of the pupils taking advantage of such a policy, it appealed to them. They respected this superintendent. They realized that he was there to help them and they allowed him to do so. 1. W. C. Bagley, School Discipline, p. 194. Macmillan. A Real Accomplishment 18 19 20 21 A Real Accomplishment Out of seventy pupils who attended the school at the opening of the term, sixty-seven were in regular attendance throughout the year and two of the three pupils who did drop out had very good outside reasons. This record is astonishing but the discipline in that High School is also remarkable. This superintendent has carried out with wonderful results the principles explained in this Course. The Common Sense Factor Some people tell us that teachers are born and not made, that tact is an innate quality. Of course, there is a certain amount of truth in this. It is needless to say that not all teachers can attain the same high degree of efficiency in controlling a school. But to say that a certain teacher can never succeed, because he does not have tact, is to express ignorance of the true nature of tact. Tact can not be entirely separated from knowledge. Tact and common sense increase in direct proportion to the advance of one’s knowledge. One employs tact when he says and does the right thing at the right time and place. Tact implies skill in dealing with immediate circumstances. Therefore, the more experience one has in dealing with a given circumstance the more proficient he should become. The mind profits by experience. A wise teacher also profits by ideas. If someone relates a case of discipline to you in which tact was used, you can use the same idea in a similar circumstance and you will also be using tact. For example, a certain teacher on entering a new school in the fall, learns that five or six of the larger boys have been talking on the street about whipping him out, in case he gets “cute.” If this teacher allows his pupils to find out in any way whatever that his mind is bothered about it; if he gets up before the school and attempts to make a speech calling attention to the gossip, he will thereby show very little tact and the offending pupils will most surely cause him more trouble. On the other hand, suppose that, sometime when he is with the boys, without any evidence of anxiety, he incidentally remarks, “I see no need of trying to correct pupils by whipping them. People have nearly always treated me justly because I have dealt fairly with them.” This is using tact. The boys will not annoy this man; they will respect him. So with hundreds of cases. Having each instance worked out in detail, the teacher may determine the minute application of good methods. In this way he can avoid harmful schemes and employ only tactful plans. It is the ignorant teacher who is untactful; it is the wise and well-educated teacher who is tactful. By well-educated, here, is meant educated in proper discipline. A teacher may be a good scholar and yet be poorly trained in controlling a school. The teacher who is well trained in matters of discipline does not look upon the many so-called puzzling circumstances as problems at all, because they so readily fit into his system of knowledge that he knows at once how to prevent prospective difficulties. There will never be a day in which you will not use the ideas in this Course, consciously or unconsciously, in one way or another. The ideas presented are fundamental. There is only one more thought the author wishes to leave with you in this Introductory Course before taking up the instructions in the regular Course. That is this: a child is influenced more by those teachers whom he likes and admires than by those whom he dislikes and who antagonize him. Therefore, it is hoped that each teacher will begin the reading of this Course with a strong conviction and a firm determination to gain from it a means of getting the child’s confidence, which will enable him to be a power for good in guiding young lives aright. No teacher has attained the greatest joy in his profession until he has received from boys and girls letters of overflowing thanks for past helpfulness. And every teacher will realize this joy who conducts his school in a rational way and who learns methods by means of which he can place discipline upon the natural basis of confidence. When you have learned the relation of your own conduct to discipline and the relation of your school to discipline; when you have come to realize the real province and true end of discipline; when you have completely learned the great fundamental and universal principles of discipline which work toward this ideal end and finally when you have learned to apply these principles to the dozens of concrete, typical cases with which you will always be confronted in the school- room, then you will be in possession of knowledge that will not only cause you to be sought for by school authorities, to teach in better schools at far better remuneration, but it will enable you to do infinitely more for boys and girls, thus making life itself better for yourself and others. “What we need more than better brain inheritance is a better and more scientific set of rules for developing the brains that we have, and such rules of procedure should be made the common property of all who are in any way related to rearing and educating children.”[2] 2. McKeever, Psychologic Method in Teaching, p. 329. Confidence Confidence, that basis of control which is necessary in dealing with a youth who is physically too big to whip, is the best basis for dealing with a child or adult of any age.—R. C. B. 22 23 24 25 PART ONE The Teacher Someone has truthfully said, “Without a teacher there can be no school.” It is a university when a great teacher, like Mark Hopkins, sits on a log with the lad, James A. Garfield, and pours forth his store of knowledge for the eager mind of the backwoods boy. All other elements of a school may be absent, except the teacher, who as a living fountain of knowledge interests the mind of the lad because he possesses those qualifications that are found in the true teacher. The vital factor of the school—be it the humblest one room school; the best one room school; a village school or the many roomed high school in the metropolis of the land—the vital and all-important factor is the teacher. The teacher is the inspiring force in the school-room, bringing light and hope and accomplishing more by influence over the children than by any other means. The Teacher as a Leader The teacher must be a leader—a true leader—a leader in social ethics, in private morals, in character-building, in religion, in fact in all that goes to make life worth while. This seems almost too much to demand of the teacher but it should be expected nevertheless, for it is not exaggeration to say that the teacher’s work is the greatest of all tasks. His clay is God’s chosen material. Every great work needs a controlling brain and a true heart and it is to be expected that God’s greatest work needs them in a superlative degree. If they are absent, the school is like a dead body without the vital spark. If the school is without the true and faithful teacher—even though all else be present, the best and most lasting results are impossible. The cry of the hearts of the children is that they be instructed and nourished and, finally, sent into the world fired with a zeal and purpose that will prompt them to the most heroic efforts in the world’s work. It is the dream of every child to worship some hero, to be held spell-bound by some great life—a life that possesses some traits that appeal to him. The teacher must be the hero; the teacher must embody these traits. The child upon finding such a teacher will do his bidding gladly, will start on any mission at his request, and will be proud to serve the dictates of a master-will—a will influenced by the Divine will. How many men and women will admit that all the good that is in them and the usefulness they manifest, they owe to the example and teaching, or to the memory of some sainted teacher—a teacher who consecrated himself to God, thereby finding his place and wielding his influence over child life for good. Though the teacher’s task seems to be the most difficult, after all its importance makes it the greatest and best, and what better or higher work is there than to help children and young men and women to a clearer vision of truth, to a nobler sense of duty, to encourage and inspire to higher ideals and motives of life, that are bounded only by eternity? It is the teacher, who at his best, stands between the child and the various experiences that await him. The teacher, from his larger store of knowledge, directs the child towards, and introduces him to, those forms of experience which are especially adapted to bring out and develop the element of perfect control. Two teachers may use the same mechanism of methods—the one may fail and the other succeed. They may be using the same system of marking and grading, rewarding, and reporting to parents, still the one fails while the other succeeds. Their environments, too, may be the same. The failure of the one is to be sought in the teacher, so too, is the success of the other. The vital need is the proper qualification of the teacher. “The responsibility of the schoolmaster does not end when the boy leaves school any more than the responsibility of the ship-builder ends on the day of the launch. Each is commissioned to construct a seaworthy vessel, competent to sail either in calm or in stormy seas, and each neglects his duty if he is content merely to build up a fairly handsome structure which will glide gracefully off the ways and keep afloat until the crowd has dispersed.”[3] 3. Welton and Blandford, Principles and Methods of Moral Training, p. 173. Warwick and York. Purpose of Teaching Perhaps, no more important question should the teacher ask himself than this, “Why am I teaching?” Is it because a brother or sister or parent or friend has taught or is teaching, or because he must earn a livelihood to support himself or family, or because he thinks he loves children, or enjoys instructing, or glories in power, or believes he has ability as a disciplinarian, or considers the work of teaching easy, dignified and above reproach, or the day short, giving time for other pursuits; or is it because he considers teaching a stepping stone to some other life profession, or, as is the case with too many women, employment to tide over the period between graduation from the high school and matrimony; or that he feels he is capable of no other work and is teaching because he believes himself small and fitted for doing a small work; or, does he believe that there is in teaching an opportunity to accomplish great good and to be of valuable service to mankind? There may be some other motive or motives that induce the teacher to undertake his work, but his should be the most worthy purpose. No teacher can expect to do his fullest measure of service and gain that contentment and happiness, that come to the good teacher, if his motive or motives for teaching are not the noblest and best. If any teacher takes up the profession of teaching —the art of arts—his must be a true aim to be of service to mankind. No teacher can successfully control those under his care and teaching, unless he believes that his work is the most vital. His heart and interest must be in his work; otherwise, it is his duty to leave the teaching profession. 27 28 29 30 31 Preparation A requisite of the teacher that can not be overlooked is the ability to teach. It is an unmistakable preface to teaching to have the proper desire to teach. It is to be hoped that the day is not far distant, when all teachers must have a normal training of not less than one year, and that every Normal School be required to cultivate the natural qualities most essential to teachers. Every student entering a Normal School should satisfy his instructors that he possesses superior ability in his chosen profession. The Normal School should be required to recommend, without exception, to other fields of activity, all those who after a sufficient time in the school do not promise to qualify as teachers of ability. One does himself great injustice to enter a profession for which he is not by nature and by training qualified; and a far greater injury is done those who come under his instruction if he is not a natural and trained teacher. Scholarship Without a doubt, a most important requisite of the teacher is good scholarship—a thorough knowledge of the subjects to be taught. His knowledge must be not only thorough, but fresh. He, too, must be a broader student of the subjects he teaches than one who merely knows the text he is using. It is evident that a teacher can not teach more than he knows, and often the keen mind of a pupil leaves the realm of the text-book and legitimately inquires into the depths of knowledge. He may embarrass the unprepared teacher, or the teacher whose knowledge of the subject is no broader than the text. The teacher’s preparation must not be superficial, it must be like a fountain—ever fresh and flowing, connecting that which has been passed over and that which is to come. This is an essential element of successful instruction, but many can not see why it should influence discipline. The teacher who is a deep and inexhaustible fountain of knowledge wins the confidence of his pupils, and whatever increases confidence decreases the necessity of imposed discipline and control, and it is true that whatever decreases the confidence of the pupils in the teacher increases the necessity for outer control. Confidence in the ability and preparation of the teacher is the basis of ready obedience. It is the element that begets a prompt and cheerful yielding of the pupil’s will to the will of the teacher. The teacher should never cease to be a student. Though he thinks himself thoroughly educated, he should always go over the material which he intends to teach; to this, he should add a wide range of reading outside of the lesson proper, but bearing upon the lesson. In this way he will be able to give to his pupils more than is found in the lesson. The teacher who unceasingly pursues such tactics in the preparation of his work will arouse interest in his classes and interest will secure attention which in turn will produce diligence in study. It is a self-evident principle, that interest on the part of the teacher will produce interest on the part of the pupil and interest will promote application and progress. Many a teacher who has been otherwise weak in the ability to discipline properly, has easily controlled large classes by the interest he has manifested in his work, because he was accurate and full in his instruction. As a Student of Nature Aside from the teacher’s thorough preparation and knowledge of the subjects he teaches, he must be well versed in other matters. No teacher can fulfill the measure of his calling, unless he is a lover and student of Nature. This may be difficult for the teacher within the confines of a large city. However, no city is so large, that all phenomena of Nature are shut out and whatever means are at hand, should be used and thoroughly understood. Some tiny park, or well kept front yard, even a stray bird, a sparrow, the rain, the clouds, and the snow flakes are Nature’s property, and where is the teacher who should be unlearned in any of these subjects? For the teacher whose happy lot it is to teach in the rural districts or villages, it would be a shame indeed, if he did not know the every pulse beat of Nature. Could there really be a teacher who could not control a large band of boys and girls, if he were always ready to expound the secrets of the forest, of the seasons, of the air, and put life and breath into all the vast out-of-doors and her varied phenomena? It is almost a necessity that every teacher should have studied psychology in his preparation for teaching; still the author has been in states where there are no laws concerning this requirement for teachers; there are scores of teachers who have not even read one text in psychology. Many have been the definitions given of psychology, but in the end they do not differ seriously. Since psychology is the interpretation of human nature, the admission must be made that every teacher should have a clear knowledge of the subject. Psychology will not produce a teacher, it is true, but teachers are compelled to study and to know human nature and the laws governing it, so that common sense methods may be developed. The study of psychology is usually involved in all discussion of methods. The teaching process involves the mind of the child and it is reasonable to demand that the teacher should know the main outlines of modern psychology. Without further argument, it is apparent that a clear and comprehensive knowledge of psychology is necessary for the teacher. Not alone should the teacher have an understanding knowledge of psychology, but he should read some good texts on psychology and its allied branches every year. Child Study No teacher, then, should consider himself educated or prepared to teach who has not given himself some preparation through child study, this greatest of all school subjects, which is simply genetic psychology practically applied. This subject is new, and at best, the teacher who has carefully studied it will know too little. Still there is no excuse for the teacher who 32 33 34 35 does not know something about the following phases of the psychology of children: the child’s soul or mind, acting as memory, imagination and reason; the chief facts concerning the child’s affections, ambitions, motives and ideals; adolescence—physical, mental and moral phases; relations to other children and elders; his sense of humor and responsibility; his moral obligations; his views concerning himself, society, and the local community; his views of Nature; the principles of child growth; the normal height and weight of children; the common defects of children as weak eyes, defective hearing, adenoids, spinal curvature and other ailments that attack childhood; the child’s likes and dislikes and all the activities that most interest him. No sensible teacher will undertake to teach the child a new subject until he understands just what the child can do. Then it is an evident conclusion that the process of teaching can be elevated above the plane of a haphazard undertaking to that of a systematic science by the teacher who has studied the child in his manifold complexities. It follows then that a teacher’s preparation at its best is not complete until he has a workable knowledge of child psychology. Reading The teacher’s preparation is not complete without the reading of good books. Every true teacher is a student, and to make it possible to remain a student he can not neglect reading good books. Reading the best books in every field of the teacher’s work, and even in many other fields for the purpose of gaining new knowledge is a requirement of the teacher that should not be overlooked. In reading for pleasure and recreation, care must be exercised in choosing reading material. Only the best should be selected by the teacher and that which will give the most aid to his work. The teacher must be a careful reader; he should not hasten through a book, just to be reading. Important passages should be marked. Whatever is of use to the teacher should be correlated to his work to add more to the subject taught. The author in all his reading, even in fiction, has made use of this method—marking all important passages and quotations as he read; then, in the back of the book, he constructed a list of pages where each passage or quotation was to be found. Following the number of the page in his index, he put a brief note, or sometimes only a word to explain the nature of the passage. To illustrate: quotations or passages of general interest were marked (general); a passage bearing upon history, marked (history), etc. When he sought some thought or passage upon a certain subject, it was easy to look to the “homemade” index of the books read and hastily locate such information. Reading for a Purpose To the teacher books are companions. He should go to them in time of need. They will give assistance. For recreation they will afford rest, and for information they will prove a never-ending source. Every book the teacher reads, should be read for a purpose. It is a good plan to discuss a book read with a friend or one who has read it and is interested in the line of thought treated. Fiction usually portrays some strong character types, as well as weak character types; these make excellent themes for talks on moods and kindred issues. The wise teacher is always ready to cite some good character study or tell some interesting tale or anecdote bearing upon the subject being studied and taught. When interest lags on a dreary day, or when the entire school seems to have the “blues”—and every teacher knows that there are such times—he can save the situation and avoid embarrassment by narrating some interesting story. Fiction abounds in character portrayals, anecdotes and stories. These can be marked and indexed as to kind as explained above. The question as to what kind of books a teacher should read may arise. There can be no harm in reading every type of book—books that bear upon every phase of life. However meager a teacher’s income may be or uncertain the place of his abode, he should have a library. The word library does not mean that he must have a hundred or more books. How many great men have had only a Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress, and perhaps a book or two of poems, and yet owned a library far more valuable than is often possessed by the indiscriminate booklover! A few books well read are better than many unread. It may be well to add this precaution. There are scores of good books bearing upon method, pedagogy and various phases of the teacher’s work. Books written for the teacher are intended to inform, and not to give exact directions for every activity of the teacher. There can be no such book as the latter. It is true, every school bears the same aspects, and fundamental principles underlie the teaching process, but “cut and dried” rules and formulæ can work only for artificial ends. A good book seeks to suggest, and the wise teacher improves every suggestion. Papers and Magazines In addition to the reading of good books the teacher should read several good papers and magazines. Here the greatest caution is necessary. This is an age of every kind of journalism, much of it really dangerous, and frequently the most appealing paper or magazine may prove to be the most harmful. It is a safe rule to read those papers and magazines that have been proven worthy by time and use. One good daily is sufficient; in its pages the teacher can scan the activities of the world. This need not take much time. A few minutes each day will be ample. A teacher should avoid sensational murder “writeups,” robberies and articles designed to create curiosity rather than to give facts and information. However, the tried and conservative daily avoids glaring headlines, announcing atrocities of every kind. What the teacher should know, is what the world is doing in commerce, industry, science, invention, legislation, discovery, religion, arts, manufacturing and those great events which shape history. The teacher who reads papers and magazines for the above purpose will be abreast of the times. He should read one good teacher’s paper. There should be no trouble experienced in finding one as there are numerous excellent magazines published. Yet, care must be exercised, for many 36 37 38 39 40 teacher’s papers and magazines are nothing less than trash. The editors, like so many business men, hope to reap a harvest of money instead of following the motive of service to their fellow men. A good magazine can not be omitted from the teacher’s reading. While it is true, that much which appears is written only for the remuneration; that is, each issue must be filled and almost anything will do, and many of the stories appeal only to a class of people who will read only the very poorest of literature; still, the teacher need not despair in his choice. He must read that journal the reputation of which has been established and the pages of which are edited by live men and women who are discussing live issues. In concluding the discussion on the teacher’s preparation, it is obvious from what has been said, that the teacher must always remain a student. He must read to learn; he must investigate to know; he must delve into Nature to learn, and it is not at all absurd for him to study again those books which he faithfully studied during his Normal School training. The Teacher’s Morals It seems almost unnecessary to say that a teacher should be moral. It is an important requisite. Although the teacher’s choice of his profession, his ability to teach and his preparation have been discussed first, the reader may consider the teacher’s morality the first requisite. The author can not conceive of a successful teacher, who would possess every essential quality except the quality of being moral. It is a foregone conclusion that a teacher is supposed to be a moral person. While this is true, sad to say there yet remain many teachers whose notions of a moral code are crude. They violate some of the smallest details of the moral code and thereby undermine their success, to say nothing about lessening the service they are attempting to render to mankind. It is not too radical to say that a teacher, above all other professional people must be moral. His idea of a moral code must not be vague; it must not contain conflicting ideas. He, above all, must have definite notions concerning morals. It is true that the term is too generally misused. Many teachers attempt to teach morals in such a way that the pupils have altogether a wrong idea of ethics and consequently, in their daily lives are doing many things that are immoral, still believing that they are shunning that which is not right. It is the purpose of the following discussion to set the teacher right on what the term “moral” in its strictest sense includes; and what constitutes a breach of morality will be clearly set forth. For many years educators have been examining the moral requisites in a teacher, and there can be no doubt as to the correctness of these ideas. No attempt will be made to generalize, but specific and concrete ideas will be presented. In other words, what is immoral will be discussed in such plain terms that the...

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